There is no shortage of financial advisors who feel they have perfected their craft to the point at which they can coach others to new heights. All too often, however, what made these advisors succeed is not transferable; it is deeply rooted in their individual personalities or in methodologies not easily adopted by others.

Consequently, whenever a book by another emerging “practice management guru” arrives on my desk, it normally receives only a cursory glance.

But something about the title, Money in Motion: A back to basics approach to build your business, intrigued me enough to take a more careful look. The other attraction was that I had met author Doug Lachance many years ago, before he became an “authority”; his drive and enthusiasm still linger in my mind.

He has built three substantial books of business in the Canadian investment industry, so clearly he knows how to do some things right.

The basic premise of this self-published book is the familiar concept that people make financial decisions at certain trigger points in their lives — such as a change in personal or business circumstances, which include births, deaths, inheritances, severances, marriage, divorce, retirement, a new business venture — to name a few. Each of these represents an opportunity to provide advice or implement financial services or products because there is often “money in motion” at that time.

Because you can’t always be there when those events occur, the objective of every advisor is to create top-of-mind awareness among clients and prospects so that when something does happen, your name is the first one that pops into their heads.

Money in Motion touches all the bases with respect to gathering prospects and converting them to clients — from identifying your ideal client, obtaining introductions, networking and centres of influence to making effective presentations of your value proposition.

The starting point, which is better emphasized by Lachance than in many such books, is a belief in what you do and the products and/or services you represent. Every great advisor I have ever encountered has a passion for the business and the work that he or she does for people.

More specifically, I appreciate the argument Money in Motion makes for a long-term approach to building a pipeline of qualified prospects. Most advisors have far too few people in their pipelines and wash through their prospects far too quickly. Lachance doesn’t suggest an appropriate number, but he does stress that a two- or three-year time horizon, or longer, for turning top-notch prospects into high-value clients is not at all unreasonable.

What is obviously required to keep prospects in the pipeline and move them toward doing business is an effective process that progressively strengthens the relationship. This implies having a sound contact-management system to track activities with each candidate, as well as to measure how far along he or she is on the journey to becoming a client.

The author is also big on having existing clients introduce their advisors to their circle of contacts; he quotes the Rule of 52, which states that each of your best clients has a inner circle of 52 close friends, family members and business associates who constitute your best potential prospects. You can gain access to this inner circle in a number of ways, says Lachance, including starting a client advisory council and conducting focus groups and client satisfaction surveys.

Regardless of how the name of a potential client comes to you, nothing will happen until you introduce yourself to that person. Consequently, several chapters of Money in Motion are dedicated to scripts for telephone or in-person initial contacts and follow-up. Similarly, there are several strategies and tactics laid out for obtaining face-to-face meetings. Statistically, the chances of doing business with someone dramatically improve if you have shaken hands with him or her.

Arising from this is another important concept: every contact with a prospective client does not necessarily have the expectation of a sale. In fact, each touchpoint is more about deepening the relationship than it is about having the prospect say “Yes” to your sales proposal. Advisors need to appreciate that these interactions that advance the cause are essential steps in the client-development process.

I recommend Money in Motion either as a primer or reminder of, as the subtitle suggests, a “back to basics approach to build your business.” It is available via the author’s Web site, at www.backtobasicscoach.com. IE

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